Native Voices | Native Truths: A Contemporary Experience
Amy Redfeather
Amy Redfeather is a 40-year-old woman from the Pechenga Band of Luiseno Indians. A multimedia artist and teacher, Redfeather currently lives in Oceanside, CA. Growing up in Fullerton, her life exists from the beach to the mountains, and she has always traveled back to the Pechanga Reservation with her mother to visit family, a tradition she continues to do with her daughters.
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Angel Garcia
Lios, yee hunaktekame enchim aniavu, inepo Angel Garcia Sapawechia into inepo Yaqui/Yoeme hihyokame.
God, creator be with you all, my name is Angel Garcia Fallensnow and I’m a Yaqui/Yoeme artist! I’m also a proud member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe out of Tucson, AZ where I lived most of my life.
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Antonia Torres Gonzàlez
A cultural promoter, traditional cook, and master of the cucapah chaquira art. At the age of 9 years old Gonzalez began to create cucapah handicrafts with her mother Inocencia Gonzalez Sainz and Mr. Juan Garcia Aldama. In 2020, Gonzalez received the national award for the best piece of “rescued folk-art” with her traditional cucapah pectoral, Cartographia Ancestral (Ancestral Cartography), which is on display here.
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Camaray Davalos
Camaray Davalos (Payómkawichum/Xicana) graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2018, majoring in Native American Studies and minoring in Environmental Management. In 2021 she wrote and filmed her first short, Woman Who Blooms at Night. She was selected as a fellow for the Inaugural Native American Writers Seminar in 2021, presented by Native American Media Alliance and the Cherokee Film Office. She was a lead editor and writer for Yáamay: An Anthology of Feminine Perspectives Across Indigenous California, which was published in the Fall of 2023. She is thrilled to continue connecting with communities through her writing.
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Gloria Crosthwaite
Auka, my name is Gloria Montes Crosthwaite. Born in Ensenada, on April 18, 1992, I am the granddaughter of, singer, artist, and traditional chief, Gloria Castañeda Silva. I am a Kumiai indigenous artist from San José de la Zorra, Baja California.
At the age of 6, my grandmother taught me to make crafts of reed, willow, and clay, as well as how to sing and dance. I am very proud to be indigenous Kumiai and grateful to my grandmother for her teachings.
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Jessica Anguiano
Jessica Anguiano was born in Mission Viejo, California but was raised in El Centro, California. She resides in Yuma, Arizona and frequents her hometown. She considers both counties home. Her mother is from Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico and Her Father is from San Antonio, Texas. The desert southwest is prevalent in many of her art pieces as well as her Mexican American roots. She recently discovered she is part Yaqui and has been on a journey of rediscovery.
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Josué Vásquez
Josué Danield Vásquez is a 23-year-old, Mén Diiste (Zapotec) artist residing on Chumash Lands. His work ranges from intimate compositions that explore cultural identity, to statement pieces that speak to the experience of the indigenous migrant communities residing across the Central Coast. Vásquez’s artwork explores the intersectionality of their identity through different compositions, drawing inspiration from cultural imagery and nature.
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Lanise Luna
Lanise Luna is a proud member of the Pala Band of Mission Indians and Mexican heritage, draws inspiration from her diverse background and the connection between the environment and animals. Specializing in drawing, painting, and traditional beading, she is a multi-talented artist who loves to explore different techniques and designs.
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Olga Navarro Sainz
Olga Navarro Sainz, is a Cucapah woman. Her mother was a Cucapah and Pai Pai woman. Since the 80's she has overseen different projects for the preservation and revitalization of the Cucapah culture and language, having studied and received a bachelor’s degree in education sciences at the Autonomous University of Baja California. For the past year, she has been making bracelets, embroidered with thread and Chaquira, which she has glued on a gold-plated metal base.
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River Garza
River T. Garza, born 1994, is an Indigenous interdisciplinary visual artist. Garza is Tongva, Mexican, and a member of Ti’at Society. His work draws on traditional Tongva aesthetics, Southern California Indigenous maritime culture, Chicano culture, Mexican art, graffiti, skateboarding, and lowrider art. Garza often explores the intersection of Tongva and Chicano/Mexican identity, history, and culture through his art practice. His work can be found in permanent and private collections.
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Sandra Carmona
Ke’aku (Hi), my name is Sandra Carmona, and I am of Wixárika descent, Chicana, the daughter of farmworkers, and a muralist for more than 20 years. I come out of the struggle—brought up in poverty and around gangs—I was blessed to be part of a tightly knit, strong, and colorful barrio that influences my art. My art is the sounds, colors, and smells all found in my community.
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Stacy Garbani
Stacy Garbani is a 38-year-old Pecháangawish Payómkawish indigenous woman from the Pechanga Band of Indians, granddaughter of Lucille Garbani Leake. She grew up on the Morongo Reservation, located north of Palm Springs, CA. To still her hands and mind, Garbani began beading in 2019, a creative journey that has fostered healing and a sense of community within her as she learned from beaders all over Indian Country.
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Summer Herrera
Summer Paa’ila Herrera grew up on the Pechanga Indian reservation, recently residing and working in Riverside, CA. She is a fourth-year undergraduate at the University of California Riverside majoring in Studio Art and minoring in Native Studies. Summer has had a solo exhibition of work in the San Diego Public Library, Downtown. She has participated in group exhibitions including “Artist Together” at William D. Cannon Gallery in Carlsbad, CA and “Campus Creatives” at The California Center of the Arts in Escondido, CA.
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Theresa Jackson
(My name is) Theresa Jackson amúlyk. (I am) Kwatsaan Native-water clan/Laguna Pueblo-badger clan (paternal), Latina (maternal). I find inspiration for my work in the natural world. Animals, plants, sky, and land. I have been painting since my sophomore year of high school and have since earned my bachelor's degree in international business (UNM), and my master's in professional writing (NAU). Indigenous tradition and culture are very important to me, and I strive to learn more about myself and my ancestors every day.
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Thomas Ward
Thomas Ward is 74 years old, growing up and living as a member of the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. A multimedia artist, Ward has created fine art throughout his life, working mainly in sculpture. A year ago, Ward began working in oil paints, learning under the tutelage of Andrea Rushing, an African American artist and studio art teacher working out of San Diego.
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Wendell Sakiestewa
Wendell Sakiestewa (pronounced “Sock-ee-ess-ta-wah”) grew up in Arizona, surrounded by the creative arts of his Hopi heritage. Wendell’s grandmother, a seamstress and patternmaker, taught him to sew, introduced him to buying fabrics, showed him how to make and layout a pattern. She nurtured his talents and entered him in every art contest she could, and he won most of them! As he got older, Wendell was encouraged to follow the artistic family tradition and pursue crafts like carving, jewelry, and painting.
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Yanet Salazar Carillo
Yanet Salazar Carrillo, is a 42 year old Kummeyaay/Kumiay woman, native of San Jose de la Zorra, Baja California. Specializing in basket weaving and handcraft works, Carrillo began creating at a precocious young age of 12. Everyday Carrillo would walk 2 hours there to learn from Antonia Carrillo as, “she was a lady who had the patience to teach me how to weave.” Learning from her, Carrillo began to create, starting with small pieces, such as medallions, bracelets, and earrings.